Sanofi v Amgen Inc. (UPC 1/2023)
Decision date:
16 July 2024
Osborne Clarke summary
- Amgen's patent was revoked for lack of inventive step.
- The Munich CD did not use the problem-solution approach when assessing inventive step. Instead, the court stated that there can be several promising starting points, and that it is not necessary to identify the most promising starting point. A claimed solution is obvious if the skilled person would be motivated to consider the claimed solution and to implement it as a "next step" in developing the prior art. On the other hand, if the claimed subject matter achieves a technical effect or advantage compared to the prior art, this may be indicative of the presence of an inventive step.
- For priority, a claimed invention is considered the "same invention" according to Article 87 EPC if the skilled person can derive the subject-matter of the claim directly and unambiguously, using common general knowledge, from the previous application as a whole.
Issue
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